IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Retail sales rise

China's retail sales growth was close to a nine year high for May, underscoring the country's economic strength amid a world slowdown.

Sales soared 21.6 percent to 870.4 billion yuan after gaining 22 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. Retail sales for the January-May period were up 21.1 percent from a year earlier, the bureau said.